WISCONSIN SHOULD TAKE LEAD IN MARIJUANA RESEARCH

With my initials, L.S.D., I have been the butt of jokes and jibes for
most of my adult life. In fairness to my mother, who gave me these
infamous initials, I must add that she gave birth to me 11 years
before the hallucinogenic drug was invented. LSD, heroin, cocaine,
ecstasy or marijuana simply were not used or available in my
pre-World War II high school.

However, 1942 and 2002 are very different years when it comes to sex,
drugs and all sorts of risky behaviors. The most common illicit drug
in use now is marijuana, or "pot." The Latin name for the plant is
cannabis. Today it is federally illegal to grow, sell or smoke
marijuana. Regulation of this drug is established by the Food and
Drug Administration and enforcement is carried out by the Drug
Enforcement Agency.

Two Democratic representatives and one Republican have introduced a
bill to legalize some use of pot. This bill, like its predecessors,
is not a blanket legalization of cannabis, but authorizes physicians
to prescribe its use to treat disease or relieve pain and suffering
for seriously or terminally ill patients.

The applicable law currently on the books here in Wisconsin was
actually signed by me in 1982. My memory is hazy, but I remember the
intent was to give physicians some leeway in treating their patients
and to promote further research. A few years later, California passed
Proposition 215, which allowed people to grow their own pot if they
needed it medically. Leave it to California!

Medical marijuana "clubs" soon came into being and were clearly
fronts for people who wished to use pot as a recreational drug. This
brought the Supreme Court into the act, and in 1994, the court ruled
that marijuana was a schedule I drug, which is defined legally as
highly addictive and of no medical usefulness. That last phrase is
one where, in my opinion, the learned justices over-reached. I don't
think we know that!

The DEA says that is true, but an enforcement agency should not be
our guide relative to medical possibilities. Here in Wisconsin we
have a world-class research university, one that has conducted
clinical studies in biochemistry for more than a century. The
Wisconsin Idea has always urged our Legislature to seek help in its
decision-making from the other end of State Street.

Here's an opportunity for Wisconsin to again make a great
contribution to the nation. Our Legislature should take the lead to
fund research on the medical use of marijuana, and get FDA and DEA
regulations set aside so the university can carry out a controlled,
legitimate and credible clinical study in this matter. Our state's
medical association would support that as well as our state's nursing
association. They are already on record.

It isn't simply a question of whether or not there are medical
benefits. Such a study could also tell us if the risks outweigh the
benefits. The first rule of medicine is "Primum non nocere," which
translates to "First, do no harm." If we find this substance has
substantial medical benefits, the next step would be for
pharmaceutical companies to produce it in a pill or liquid form so as
to control dosage and purity.

The Legislature has an opportunity here to help our great university
research faculty to provide this nation with definitive information
about a substance used at least once by 87 million Americans. But
please don't tell the DEA that a former governor with the initials
L.S.D. is supporting this.